Brazil all set to elect racist, misogynistic Jair Bolsonaro as President

Oct 29, 2018, 02:30 IST | Agencies

Brazilians on Sunday will elect the country's next President amid one of the most polarising and violent political campaigns in its history

Jair Bolsonaro. Pic/AFP

Far-right congressman Jair Bolsonaro, who won the first round of Brazil's presidential election held earlier this month, was poised to win the second round of polls slated to take place on Sunday.

Brazilians on Sunday will elect the country's next President amid one of the most polarising and violent political campaigns in its history. Bolsonaro was leading in recent polls, ahead of Fernando Haddad, a leftist former Sao Paulo mayor, with 56 per cent of voters likely to vote for Bolsonaro, while 44 per cent supported Haddad. Bolsonaro, 63, won the first round of the elections held on October 7 amid a field of 13 candidates.

But he fell short of the 50 per cent needed to win outright and avoid a runoff against Haddad, from the Workers' Party. Throughout the campaign, dozens of politically motivated acts of violence were registered by voters, journalist and politicians. Bolsonaro was stabbed in the stomach last month during a rally.

Bolsonaro, who has been compared to US President Donald Trump and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, has stirred controversy by making misogynistic, racist and homophobic remarks. He once told a congresswoman that she did not deserve to be raped because she was "very ugly", Brazil's TV Globo reported. He also said publicly he'd prefer to see his son "die in an accident" than have a member of his family be homosexual.

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